CONTENTS A NEW VOYAGE to CAROLINA; PREFACE. INTRODUCTION. A JOURNAL OF A THOUSAND MILES TRAVEL AMONG THE INDIANS, FROM SOUTH TO NORTH CAROLINA. A DESCRIPTION OF NORTH-CAROLINA. OF THE INLETS AND HAVENS OF THIS COUNTRY. OF THE CORN OF CAROLINA. THE PRESENT STATE OF CAROLINA. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CAROLINA. OF THE VEGETABLES OF CAROLINA. THE BEASTS OF CAROLINA ARE THE INSECTS OF CAROLINA. BIRDS OF CAROLINA. WATER FOWL ARE, THE FISH IN THE SALT, AND FRESH WATERS OF CAROLINA, ARE, FRESH-WATER FISH

Together with the Present State thereof. And A JOURNAL Of a Thousand Miles, Travel'd thro' several Nations of INDIANS. Giving a particular Account of their Customs, Manners, &c. By John Lawson Gent. Surveyor-General of North Carolina. TN: To assure a high quality text, the original was typed in (manually) twice and electronically compared. [Some obvious errors have been corrected. (See Notes at end of file.)] [Dedication] My Lords, As Debts of Gratitude ought most punctually to be paid,

'Tis a great Misfortune, that most of our Travellers, who go to this vast Continent in America, are Persons of the meaner Sort, and generally of a very slender Education; who being hir'd by the Merchants, to trade amongst the Indians, in which Voyages they often spend several Years, are yet, at their Return, uncapable of giving any reasonable Account of what they met withal in those remote Parts; tho' the Country abounds with Curiosities worthy a nice Observation. In this Point, I think, the Fre

In the Year 1700, when People flock'd from all Parts of the Christian World, to see the Solemnity of the Grand Jubilee at Rome, my Intention, at that Time, being to travel, I accidentally met with a Gentleman, who had been Abroad, and was very well acquainted with the Ways of Living in both Indies; of whom, having made Enquiry concerning them, he assur'd me, that Carolina was the best Country I could go to; and, that there then lay a Ship in the Thames, in which I might have my Passage. I laid h

Carolina how bounded. The Province of Carolina is separated from Virginia by a due West-Line, which begins at Currituck-Inlet, in 36 Degrees, 30 Minutes, of Northern-Latitude, and extends indefinitely to the Westward, and thence to the Southward, as far as 29 Degrees; which is a vast Tract of Sea-Coast. But having already treated, as far as is necessary, concerning South-Carolina, I shall confine myself, in the ensuing Sheets, to give my Reader a Description of that Part of the Country only, whi

Currituck Inlet. The Bar of Currituck being the Northermost of this Country, presents itself first to be treated of. It lies in 36 deg. 30 min. and the Course over is S.W. by W. having not above seven or eight Foot on the Bar, tho' a good Harbour, when you are over, where you may ride safe, and deep enough; but this Part of the Sound is so full of Shoals, as not to suffer any thing to trade thro' it, that draws above three Foot Water, which renders it very incommodious. However, this affects but

Wheat. The Wheat of this Place is very good, seldom yielding less than thirty fold, provided the Land is good where it is sown; Not but that there has been Sixty-six Increase for one measure sown in Piny-Land, which we account the meanest Sort. And I have been inform'd, by People of Credit, that Wheat which was planted in a very rich Piece of Land, brought a hundred and odd Pecks, for one. If our Planters, when they found such great Increase, would be so curious as to make nice Observations of t

When we consider the Latitude and convenient Situation of Carolina, had we no farther Confirmation thereof, our Reason would inform us, that such a Place lay fairly to be a delicious Country, being placed in that Girdle of the World which affords Wine, Oil, Fruit, Grain, and Silk, with other rich Commodities, besides a sweet Air, moderate Climate, and fertile Soil; these are the Blessings (under Heaven's Protection) that spin out the Thread of Life to its utmost Extent, and crown our Days with t

The spontaneous Shrubs of this Country, are, the Lark-heel-Tree; three sorts of Hony-Suckle-Tree, the first of which grows in Branches, as our Piemento-Tree does, that is, always in low, moist Ground; the other grows in clear, dry Land, the Flower more cut and lacerated; the third, which is the most beautiful, and, I think, the most charming Flower of its Colour, I ever saw, grows betwixt two and three Foot high, and for the most part, by the side of a swampy Wood, or on the Banks of our Rivers,

The Buffelo is a wild Beast of America, which has a Bunch on his Back, as the Cattle of St. Laurence are said to have. He seldom appears amongst the English Inhabitants, his chief Haunt being in the Land of Messiasippi, which is, for the most part, a plain Country; yet I have known some kill'd on the Hilly Part of Cape-Fair-River, they passing the Ledges of vast Mountains from the said Messiasippi, before they can come near us. Two killed one year in Virginia at Appamaticks. I have eaten of thei

Strange Genitors. The Allegator is the same, as the Crocodile, and differs only in Name. They frequent the sides of Rivers, in the Banks of which they make their Dwellings a great way under Ground; the Hole or Mouth of their Dens lying commonly two Foot under Water, after which it rises till it be considerably above the Surface thereof. Here it is, that this amphibious Monster dwells all the Winter, sleeping away his time till the Spring appears, when he comes from his Cave, and daily swims up a

Birds in America more beautiful than in Europe....

Water Fowl. Bald-Eagle. As the Eagle is reckon'd the King of Birds I have begun with him. The first I shall speak of, is the bald Eagle; so call'd, because his Head, to the middle of his Neck, and his Tail, is as white as Snow. These Birds continually breed the Year round; for when the young Eagles are just down'd, with a sort of white woolly Feathers, the Hen-Eagle lays again, which Eggs are hatch'd by the Warmth of the young ones in the Nest, so that the Flight of one Brood makes Room for the

Whale. Whales are very numerous, on the Coast of North Carolina, from which they make Oil, Bone, &c. to the great Advantage of those inhabiting the Sand-Banks, along the Ocean, where these Whales come ashore, none being struck or kill'd with a Harpoon in this Place, as they are to the Northward, and elsewhere; all those Fish being found dead on the Shoar, most commonly by those that inhabit the Banks, and Sea-side, where they dwell, for that Intent, and for the Benefit of Wrecks, which s

The Indians, which were the Inhabitants of America, when the Spaniards and other Europeans discover'd the several Parts of that Country, are the People which we reckon the Natives thereof; as indeed they were, when we first found out those Parts, and appear'd therein. Yet this has not wrought in me a full Satisfaction, to allow these People to have been the Ancient Dwellers of the New-World, or Tract of Land we call America. The Reasons that I have to think otherwise, are too many to set down he

As to the Government of Carolina, the Laws of England are there in Force; yet the Lords-Proprietors, by their Deputies, have Power, with the Consent of the Inhabitants, to make By-Laws for the better Government of the said Province; so that no Law can be made, or Money rais'd, unless the Inhabitants, or their Representatives, consent thereto: One Law which they have in South-Carolina deserves particular Mention, which is, their Method of chusing Juries, it being done by making a considerable Num

Lately publish'd, in the Collections for December, January, February, and March, The Discovery and Conquest of the Molucco and Philippine Islands; containing their History, Ancient and Modern, Natural and Political: Their Description, Product, Religion, Government, Laws, Languages, Customs, Manners, Habits, Shape, and Inclinations of the Natives. With an Account of many other adjacent Islands, and several remarkable Voyages through the Streights of Magellan, and in other Parts. Written in Spanis

(p. 111) [ Plum. ] inserted before: [Damson, Damazeen, and a large round black Plum are all I have met withal ] (This follows the paragraph on Apricots ["Apricock"], and the absence of this or similar side-note seems to be accidental.) (p. 151) [ Swaddle-Bills. ] inserted before: [ Swaddle-Bills are a sort of an ash-colour'd Duck, ] (This follows the paragraph on Tutcocks, precedes that on Mew, and the absence of this or similar side-note seems to be accidental.) In "An Account of the Indians of